Time for a zero refugee policy? - *Read OP for mod warnings and threadbans - updated 11/5/24*

RTE are in on it and were likely told to ask that question as it makes the government stance seem tough on asylum seekers.

I'll revisit my reply to you on this topic from a previous post. The same questions are being asked different ways. I do not mean make conditions physically terrible, I mean we need to have a much more robust approach to what is for the most part economic migration disguised as seeking asylum. If people know they have little chance of not being returned home they will stop coming.

At the very least you have to agree that the status quo cannot continue. You ask me what not being soft actually is? I would consider almost anything an improvement on our current policy/system.

Extract from previous post (see post #17638 for context):

As we currently have to process asylum seekers in the country and we are not a charity for everyone looking a better life:

• Abolish the right to remain. If the courts, IPO/IPAT have decided someone cannot stay, the justice minister should not be able to overrule this.
• Enforce deportations out of the EU, no self deportations. ( everyone is fingerprinted (i know they are already)- a failure in any EU country should prevent an application in another - no point in allowing failed applicants to bounce around the EU. If home countries refuse, set above.)
• Remove the right to work - the asylum system should not be seen as an alternative to the visa system.
• Quicker decisions and remove the ability to tie the court up for years with appeals etc.
• Limit access to welfare/Healthcare/education/housing etc.
• Limit access to citizenship.
• Committing of any crime is a bar to application and automatic deportation.
• Anyone who comes in via NI is an automatic rejection/deportation.
• Anyone arriving without documentation is an automatic rejection/deportation.
• Limit the number of applications per year

And I would add to this all claim decisions should have to be attended in person. If denied, detained. No slinking off into the gig economy.

They should have been sent to Montrose, plenty of space out there to set up a camp site and then they could use the RTE canteen and other facilities there are well.

did rte run anything on this:

Didn't he get the government memo? Irish people have no say where they go, neither do the immigrants.

well ideally once processed the bogus would be ejected from the country thus solving the capacity.

You are right though we should be capping on the genuine AS also.

without knowing how many succesful applicants there are, even processing and deporting 100% of bogus applicants in 60 seconds does not resolve the accomodation needs of the succesful applicants.

Thats why capacity is key.

We expect around 25k IPAs this year.

Assume 50% are succesful. We need to accomodate 12,500 IPAs through 2024.

Approx 1,000 people a month require accomodation and infrastructuee supports.

If the govt cannot provide a rolling stock of 1,000 newly available beds each month across 2024, we have breached capacity and people are on the streets.

The 12,500 unsuccesful applicants could be deported instantly. It would not matter.

The more than 70 years old Geneva conventions are not fit for purpose and need a complete overhaul. The sentiments which they’re based on may have had merit post World War II but the worldwide population has skyrocketed since.
Politicians hide behind “international obligations” but you never hear them say that they’re lobbying for changes or bringing up the subject on a UN level.

Interesting piece earlier on Pat Kenny. Reporter Barry White says in July 23 he discovered at that time 75% of applications were made in person at Mount St. So Government were aware for a long time but only now are taking any action. He replayed a question to McEntee at the time where she gave a vague answer, all office speak but no detail.

He also played a clip of interviews with applicants. They all freely admit they crossed from the UK. One even had a mild Scottish accent.

What % of asylum seekers are successful? Where are the planes leaving Ireland to bring back unsuccessful applicants?

Asking for permission to remain in the state has a yes /no outcome. If we’re not saying yes, then we need to get our act together on deportations - it’s not a nice thing I know, but we can’t say yes to everyone and but part of this problem is that we’re just not doing what we’re supposed to be doing in the first place

Just looked at the figures for homeless. We appear to be at a new all time high of adults + child dependants.

13,866 March versus 13,841 in Feb

Number of child dependant homeless increased from 4,147 to 4,170

Except there has been no reports this time ? e.g.

https://www.breakingnews.ie/ireland/number-of-homeless-people-in-ireland-reaches-13531-in-another-record-1592824.html

It's actually shocking. I just checked Jan report and the same method yields 13,531

Homeless children has increased from 4,027 Jan —> 4,170 Mar

This is insane to me!

I heard most of that interview too. O'Gorman also says as Ukrainians leave some hotels will return to public use but others will instead be used for asylum seekers.

He said absolutely nothing about any attempt to reduce the numbers arriving. The only way I can see that happening is a change of government.

Just watching Sky News and they're showing coverage of the UK Police detaining illegal immigrates in preparation for deporting them.

This is what I love to see in Ireland, just to see something been done would put my mind at ease some what

This whole Geneva Convention thing is something I've heard being said a few times. I don't particularly understand what the argument is — or rather what you actually think changing it or withdrawing from it would achieve.

Change the definitions and people will just claim they fit within the new definition anyway. OK you reject them regardless. Or you withdraw from Geneva entirely and reject people on the basis that Ireland does not recognise the concept of refugee. Excellent. But either way, the rejection does not make the person disappear in a puff of smoke. You still have to actually physically deal with them.

At the end of the day, refugees existed before the Geneva Convention existed, and would exist regardless of whether it stays, goes or changes.